What Makes Users Recommend Their Mobile Travel App? Findings From an Innovation Diffusion and Social Exchange Theory Perspective

This study explores the mechanisms enhancing users' intention to recommend their mobile travel app use. By drawing on innovation diffusion theory and social exchange theory, it offers a comprehensive framework for understanding how user perceptions and the trade-offs between positive and negative aspects of mobile travel app usage shape engagement and subsequent recommendation intentions. The study also sheds light on omnichannel strategies and highlights their relevance to tourism service research. A total of 387 valid responses from travel app users were analyzed through partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results indicate that innovation characteristics substantially affect perceived benefits, which in turn foster high-quality relationships and lead to recommendations. Moreover, practical insights are provided on how best to manage both positive and negative factors, thereby strengthening relationships with mobile travel app users and enhancing their willingness to recommend the app to others.